Another setback? Injured Gauti likely to fly home

India's opening batsman Gautam Gambhir is likely to return home without taking any further part in the current tour of England. Dinesh Chopra reports.

cricketUpdated: Aug 29, 2011 01:40 IST

Dinesh Chopra Hindustan Times

India's opening batsman Gautam Gambhir is likely to return home without taking any further part in the current tour of England. The poor vision, concussion and nausea he has been complaining of since the bad fall during the final Test at Oval are still haunting him. He may consult an eye specialist (ophthalmologist) in Manchester.

Team physio Ashish Kaushik has been trying very hard to get the batsman fit for the T20 and ODI series beginning from August 31. But his condition has not improved at all and he will miss Monday's Twenty20 warmup game against Leicestershire.

There is a possibility he may even consult a neurosurgeon as and when he returns to India. His future on the tour could be decided in the next few days.

There is also a possibility he will return to Delhi from Manchester, where the team is camping right now.

Even on Sunday, he had a 20-minute batting session during India's nets but was said to be feeling uncomfortable. Once again, as reported by HT, he was struggling to gauge the pace and trajectory of the ball thrown at him.

If Gambhir returns, it could be another big setback for the team that has been plagued by injuries, losing one key player after another since the tour began.

It is also not sure if the team management would ask for a replacement. Wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel is in the ODI squad.

The left-handed batsman opened the batting in the West Indies ODIs in the absence of Gambhir and batted at the top of the order in the last two ODI warmup games India have played. So far he has looked good. The logistics of making it to England on time and Parthiv's decent form may tilt the balance in favour of him opening with Sachin Tendulkar in the series. The ODIs kick-off on September 3.

India players drop in to watch EPL gameSome India players went to watch the Super Sunday clash between Manchester United and Arsenal in Manchester. There are quite a few Manchester United supporters in the team.

Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj and Dhoni support the Red Devils who won 8-2. Though the tickets were sold out, a local Indian businessman helped them get a few.